The final seminar to prepare match officials for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ has been held in Italy where 16 elite referees from 15 different European FIFA Member Associations (MAs) were put through their paces.

Integrated into FIFA’s strategy to ensure the highest possible standards in the selection process of match officials for the final tournament, Europe’s top referees assembled in Viareggio following the sessions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in January and Doha, Qatar, in February for their counterparts in other confederations.

“These three seminars are the last part of an intensive programme, the road to the FIFA World Cup 2026, which started, already, at the beginning of 2023, immediately after the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar,” explained Pierluigi Collina, FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee

“The message we gave all the referees, all the candidates, who were selected for these seminars since the very beginning, was to do everything in their possibilities to not leave any stone unturned, try to do their best to be part of this FIFA World Cup 2026, not regret not having done something that they could have to be part of this selected group of referees. All the candidates were monitored by our instructors, by our fitness coaches, our doctors, physios. They really received important support and now we’re at the conclusion of this journey.”

As well as fitness and medical checks, referees participated in practical and theory sessions with an emphasis on establishing uniformity of decision-making for the 48 teams involved in the upcoming tournament’s 104 matches.

“It’s like a player who is playing for his club and then he’s going to the national team, and the coach says, ‘In your club, you play like this. With me, you have to play like that’. And we believe a lot in our philosophy in FIFA, and we want the referees to understand this philosophy,” said Director of FIFA Refereeing Massimo Busacca. “We want to arrive at the FIFA World Cup and see, let’s say, all the decisions be almost the same ones taken in every game, and not that one referee in one game makes a personal interpretation. We need real uniformity.”

He added: “The way we are doing seminars, and the reason we are doing seminars, is like the preparation of a national team. It’s not easy, but for that reason we work very hard. But we are very happy in the end about what we have done.”

Dutch referee and seminar participant Danny Makkelie added: “The key aspects of this preparation, of course, are uniformity – that we are all on the same page – that the FIFA concept has to be clear, especially in the grey areas, that we all decide on the same decision – that’s very important. And also, we discussed different topics, so theoretical, practical but also physical. And then, we are in the best conditions when we arrive at the FIFA World Cup.”

Makkelie, who officiated at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, hopes he will make the final list for the tournament in North America when it is drawn up later this month.

“When I was a child, as a young referee, it was my dream to be at the FIFA World Cup,” he explained. “This is the highest level you can reach as a referee, so I’m very proud to be here [at] the seminar. And I look forward so much to being in America and part of all the referees, the best referees [at] the best tournament in the world. So, this is my dream and I [am] going for it.”